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"Empirical Evidence"
May 01, 2011
Wittenberg Lutheran Center
When we say that something is based on “empirical”
data, what does that mean? Surprisingly, we find that it has
absolutely nothing to do with the word “empire”.
That word would be “imperial”, not “empirical”.
The word “empirical” relates to something that
has been experienced or observed first-hand, and it gets its
roots from “empiric”, a 16th-century word that
means, literally “out of experience”. Apparently,
the western Renaissance gave birth to the word – that’s
why it’s not found in the Bible. As you might expect,
the word “empirical” gets a lot of use in scientific
circles. Interesting to me is that its first usage was not
complementary – it was derogatory. An “empirical”
doctor was considered to be a quack or a charlatan. He wasn’t
basing his practice on scientific theory, but on experience
and observation alone. Information can be “empirical”
without necessarily being scientific.
Compare that usage to today’s… when we say that
something is empirical, we usually mean that it’s an
undisputed fact. Today, what’s observed and experienced
– through science – is considered to be absolutely
ironclad. Isn’t it ironic that scientists who take pride
in being empirical are actually calling themselves “quacks”?
Well, I’m not here to talk about our changing language,
really. We’re talking today about a typically human
response that is observed in the actions and experience of
the disciple Thomas. His desire for empirical verification
is pretty natural. All of us would probably like that –
visible and tangible evidence of our living Lord. But we find
little in Scripture to encourage that kind of faith. Jesus
declares that “an evil and adulterous generation seeks
for a sign”. Scripture reminds us that “we walk
by faith, not by sight”. Nevertheless, I think most
of us can sympathize with Thomas.
Today in our text [John 20:19-31], Jesus pronounces His blessing
on “those who have not seen, and yet have believed”.
He’s talking about us, today. I’d like to talk
about this kind of faith to which we are called, as well.
How do we apply this kind of faith in our world? The desire
for proof in matters of faith isn’t new. In the Old
Testament, we can think of Pharaoh, who time after time reacted
to God’s signs, only to become increasingly jaded and
reverse his mercy. In the New Testament, we hear such things
as “What sign will you do so that we will see and believe?”
Perform a miracle and we’ll think it over. I can’t
help thinking of King Herod in “Jesus Christ, Superstar”
singing, “Walk across my swimming pool!” The Church
of Rome has made miracles a basis for Canonization. The Vatican
recently posted the miracles of Pope John Paul II, paving
the way for his inevitable rise to sainthood. Apparently,
some think a miracle can prove how holy a person is.
So St. Thomas is neither the first nor the last to demand
some kind of empirical evidence in order to believe. What
a puzzle, though… Thomas – the ultimate “insider”
– was loyal enough to Jesus that he was willing to die
with Him just a week before Easter, but by the afternoon of
Easter Thomas refused to believe in the resurrection without
proof. Even though he’d seen Jesus bring others back
to life, even though several trusted friends were insisting
on this amazing news, he’s not listening. Thomas is
perhaps struggling with thoughts of suddenly being an “outsider”
– the only one not to see what the others have seen.
“Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and
thrust my finger into the mark of the nails, and thrust my
hand into his side, I will never believe.” One of Christ’s
closest disciples, after accompanying Him for three years,
has lost the struggle with the truth of Jesus’ identity
and purpose. Even though his friends kept trying to tell him
the truth, witnessing to the resurrection, Thomas wasn’t
buying it.
By the start of the next week however, Thomas had been given
another chance! We don’t know where he’s been
for the past week, but it doesn’t really matter. What
matters is that he’s now back. And our gracious Lord
offers up His wounds for Thomas’ inspection. Whether
he actually stuck his finger into the holes and his hand into
the gash in Jesus’ side, the Bible doesn’t say.
All we know is that Thomas suddenly rose from the depths of
despair to the very pinnacle of faith, and confessed, “My
Lord and my God!” With that, he is saying more than
he could have ever said by way of empirical evidence alone.
Seeing and touching doesn’t automatically equate with
believing. If Thomas had only seen and touched, he might have
said, “Well, what do you know! It must be Jesus!”
But by doing that, Thomas could have still avoided any personal
commitment to the truth. He could have kept talking about
Jesus, and using His name in the third person, without ever
claiming Him.
But Thomas’ confession is profoundly more… “MY
Lord and MY God!” Thomas’ belief doesn’t
rest on just observation and experience. Such empirical proof
would be incomplete without hearing. Unbelief can only be
fully conquered by the Word. Thomas’ faith rests on
the love that is being poured out for him by a gracious and
forgiving Lord. Jesus’ words brought about his belief.
The confession of Thomas shows that he recognizes his Lord
by His love, not by His physical characteristics. Jesus gives
us the last word: “Blessed [are] those who have not
seen but yet have believed.” Suddenly the walls of that
locked room fall away. From that moment, the eleven disciples
are in the company of all believers from every time and place
who can say in faith, “My Lord and my God!” True
faith in the risen Savior is never based on empirical evidence,
but on trust and confidence planted in us by the Holy Spirit,
working through God’s Word. It’s a response to
the love of God in Christ Jesus that we’ve heard, and
have had applied personally to us.
There’s a popular book on sale that tells of a little
boy who apparently was in the presence of Christ in heaven.
It’s a powerful witness, and it’s flying off the
shelves of bookstores. But we have to be careful, because
it’s precisely that kind of story that could drive some
into unbelief. Some might say, the way Thomas did, “Unless
I have a vision of Jesus and unless I sit on His lap in the
company of saints and angels, I’ll NEVER believe.”
What a wonderful gift that Christ can enter our hearts simply
by means of His Gospel through that part of our brain that
hears, and He then dwells there. And He doesn’t come
empty-handed. He brings with Him His life and His Spirit and
all that He has. Luther wrote that Christians “live
by faith and in spirit, that is, by the recognition and love
of what is invisible. The carnal”, he says, “don’t
live by faith, but [they live] empirically.”
There are many things in life that make a demand for empirical
evidence absurd. The scientific method of evaluating data
doesn’t always apply to all of reality. “If it
walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it must be a duck…
unless it’s not.” Life is the realm of the poet
as well as the physicist… of the artist as well as the
mathematician… and of the theologian as well as the
scientist. Every phenomena may have an apparent scientific
explanation, but science doesn’t necessarily exhaust
the explanation – it doesn’t explain everything.
Is it enough to talk about love in terms of glandular secretions?
Can motherly care only be described in terms of the preservation
of the species? Is the mind of Shakespeare nothing more than
a network of nerve endings? Try listening to a beautiful violin
solo, concentrating only on vibrations caused by one animal’s
hair being dragged across another animal’s intestines.
We’re living in an empirical world, but are we only
empirical people?
It’s impossible to “prove” God in the scientific
sense. In order for something to be “proven” scientifically,
it has to be repeatable. Who’s going to repeat the creation
of the universe? Who’s going to re-create the resurrection
of a dead man on demand? But just because these things can’t
be proven by repetition – empirically, doesn’t
mean they didn’t happen. Empirical science only works
within the boundaries God has given. So there doesn’t
need to be a conflict between science and faith, as many people
insist there is. Science inter-relates the things around us
to the other things around us, while faith relates us and
the world around us to God. Faith and science are not enemies.
Science doesn’t need faith to do its thing; nor does
faith need science to do what it does. And yet, they’re
not totally separated, either. Faith even relates science
to God. That’s one way we can apply our faith today.
We can also begin to see things through the light of Jesus’
resurrection, the way the early Church did. It was important
to the other ten disciples that Thomas know the truth. So
important that they kept trying so hard to tell him. At that
moment, the other disciples began to live out their calling
to evangelize, beginning with the unbeliever in their midst.
There is a noticeable sense of urgency that Thomas, the last
of the disciples to suspend his disbelief, should rejoin them
as they huddle in their intimidated amazement. Thomas thought
he needed his preposterous requirements met before he would
ever believe. He’d have to experience the risen Christ
on his own terms, and in his own way. We all know people like
that. We may even see a little bit of Thomas in ourselves,
if we’re honest. Thomas’ confession is our confession,
because we all have been guilty of unbelief.
Peter’s epistle [1 Peter 1:3-9] says so fittingly:
“Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even
though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him, and are
filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are
receiving the goal of your faith – the salvation of
your souls!” That’s TODAY! Fellow Christian brothers
and sisters, let me end this semester’s worship at Wittenberg
on this note: when you are made aware of pain and loss, FIGHT
SKEPTICISM! Take comfort and remember what can’t be
taken away from you… the mercy of God, the promise of
your Baptism, and the assurance of Christ’s true presence
with us to the very end of the age! The fact of His resurrection
is not repeatable – but it’s not reversible, either!
HE IS RISEN! ALLELUIA! Amen.
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The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts
and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen
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